Top comment (13)

Published: November 23, 2014 at 9:53am

Posted by M:

Tivventila (an assumed Maltese word) would supposedly have been extracted from the Italian ventilare.

An invented word like that could only be used by a pompous Italianate lawyer of the old school, who has modelled himself on his erstwhile hero Guido Demarco, and who likes to show he has come a long way from the Blue Lantern bar by throwing important-sounding words around to impress the guttersnipes (from both Malta and Romania) with whom he surrounds himself.

Manuel Mallia Joseph Muscat




23 Comments Comment

  1. Mr Meritocracy says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141123/local/opposition-leader-using-shooting-to-score-political-points-pm.545266

    I can’t believe that our Prime Minister is trying to shift responsibility onto the Leader of the Opposition for this.

    He doesn’t seem to understand the concept – or want to seem to understand the concept – that governing means that he has to take difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions.

    The Leader of the Opposition is not there to do that for him.

  2. C Falzon says:

    Guido DeMarco did actually use that word quite often, and it’s not the only thing they have in common.

  3. Paddling Duck says:

    Responsibility comes in various forms. One way of distinguishing between them is the time constraints associated with each type of responsibility or a so to speak Best Before End Date.

    Criminal responsibility, due to the harsh penalties which can be given by a court of law, determining someone’s freedom, is on the slower side of the spectrum. The role of the judge presiding, and the court setting ensure that the impact of public pressure is minimised.

    Administrative responsibility, again due to the fate it could seal to an individual, is usually taken faster than criminal responsibility, yet is still on the slower side because it pertains investigation in light of a written set of rules.

    Political responsibility however, must be immediate as the is tied very much to trust and personal strength. There are no written set of rules which determine this, but is undoubtedly the one with the most external pressures. If it’s not taken in time, trust is lost.

    Muscat’s Best Before End date to do something about Mallia is well over now. Any investigation will fall in the first two scenarios and will not quell any disgruntlement, especially within his own party.

  4. Arnold Layne says:

    Isn’t there a Fan Run today? Perhaps he can go to ventilate there.

  5. anthony says:

    I must admit that I was sure the letter to Simon Busuttil was written by Mallia as soon as I read it because it could very well have been written by Guido Demarco.

  6. ciccio says:

    He means “trewwah.”

    Not a good idea, because the whole matter stinks.

    • Gahan says:

      Trewwaħ mhix trejjaħ!

      Kieku kienet milpinna ta’ Joseph kieku kien jikteb ixxewwex!

      • Tom Double Thumb says:

        I believe the correct Maltese word would have been “tperrec”, a word still in current use especially in Gozo and some villages in Malta.

    • Neo says:

      “Tperrec” is more apt in this case.

    • Kevin says:

      Yes, because presumably the word comes from “ventilare”, and in so doing demonstrates his lack of knowledge of Italian.

      What he really means to say is “stoking”, which is “attizzare” in Italian. There again, changing that into Maltese, “qed tattizza”, sounds more like sneezing.

      • L.Gatt says:

        No, ventilare is actually correct in Italian. It means to throw in the air or spread information. Never heard it used in Maltese though.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        No, it is not correct. That’s not what ‘ventilare’ means.

        It is putting forth ideas or suggestions for discussion, or to test the waters.

        What Mallia means here is spreading rumours or false information, which is not the same thing at all. But I don’t expect him to know the difference. He’s a lawyer, and an MP. Double whammy.

    • M says:

      Actually it stinks to high heaven but Muscat et. al. seem to have a huge problem in their olfactory department.

      Their middle name: Anosmia and Dysosmia.

  7. M says:

    It is about time that people engage in ‘spot the lie’ activities. The style of marketing of this government demands it.

    I heard an actual recorded telephone call to the GU clinic on 101, where the nurse on the end of the line did not give an appointment to the caller. When I saw the DOI statement I REALLY paid attention.

    The statement, is worded such that one would think that the opposition had been lying becasue it does not say ‘issa qed jiffunzjona’, or ‘rega qed jiffunzjona’ which would have reflected the truth. Instead it gives the impression that it is the opposition which was lying because ‘qed jiffunzjona’.

    It simply says that the sevice was briefly interrupted due to the consultant retiring, you know, retirement age must have crept on the health department suddenly so how could they have known or planned in advance? It was such a shock!

    Just so you know, the nurse at the end of the line did not triage the patient but simply asked him to call in 3 weeks time. So the urgency bit was not evident unless they mean to say that NOW they are making appointments according to urgency.

    ”IL-GU CLINIC JIFFUNZJONA B’MOD NORMALI
    Reference Number: PR142750, Press Release Issue Date: Nov 22, 2014

    B’referenza għal l-istqarrija maħruġa mil-Oppożizzjoni, id-Dipartiment tas-Saħħa jgħarraf illi il-Genitourinary Clinic fl-Isptar Mater Dei qed jiffunzjona b’mod regolari u l-pazjenti qed jingħataw appuntamenti skont il-prijorita’ tal-każ tagħhom. Każi urġenti qed jinqdew bla dewmien. Is-servizz kien ġie nterrot għal perjodu qasir hekk kif il-konsulent inkarigat spiċċa bl-eta’. Mill-bidu ta’ dan ix-xahar ġie ngaġġat konsultent ġdid.

    Filwaqt li l-GU Clinic bħalissa għaddej b’ritmu normali, id-Dipartiment tas-Saħħa ħareġ sejħa sabiex jiġi identifikat ukoll konsulent addizzjonali f’din l-ispeċjalizzazzjoni. Pazjenti li għandhom bżonn is-servizzi tal-GU clinic jistgħu jcemplu direttament lil GU clinic jew jibgħatu riferta tat-tabib tagħhom.”

    http://www.gov.mt/en/Government/Press%20Releases/Pages/2014/November/22/PR142750.aspx

  8. mandingo says:

    Mallia il-golden boy ta’ Guido Demarco u issa l-power tela ghal rasu.

    Fejn hu Mario Demarco?

    Mela issa kullhad bla cookies?

  9. Lawrence Attard says:

    There is no doubt in my mind that “tivventila” is a deliberate play on words.

    It is deliberately meant to be misread, at first glimpse (and in the case of people with low education, even at second and third glimpse), “tivvinta”.

    The letter was released to the press for all to read, and so the intention was obviously to imply, sarcastically, that Simon Busuttil is making up allegations.

    Such is the vile and twisted mind of our prime minister.

    Faced with this very serious incident of public shooting, in which the line between life and death for the targeted individual was down to fortuitous minutes of arc differences in bullet trajectory, and which, incredibly, has yet to result in a prosecution, the prime minister chooses to resort to such cheap cynicism.

    He and his sneering visage.

  10. H.P. Baxxter says:

    Our Spawn Of The Ugandan Exiles (real or spiritual) like to think that their Italianate Maltese invented words are extracted from real Italian words. They are not.

    I know “ventilare” exists (I’m not that stupid), but it doesn’t mean “to spread rumours”, which is what Mallia presumably is trying to say here. Roughly, it means “to put ideas forth for discussion”.

  11. Lizz says:

    Depending on the context, “trewwah, tperrec, jew biex tghaddi ziffa”. Tista’ tivvinta li trid, izda qatt “tivventila”.

  12. Persil says:

    Tperrec tfisser tpoggi fil-berah, bhal tperrec il-hwejjeg ta’ taht.

    Tivventila tfisser xi haga ohra, bhal trewwah biex tqabbad xi glieda.

    Kelma Taljana biex min juzha juri kemm hu bravu u uniku.

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